Sometimes it feels like Mel and Jack can’t catch a break, and their latest obstacle is a heavy one. Prior to Season 1, Mel lost both her husband (Daniel Gillies) and a child. The couple had struggled with hospitalization after their baby was still born, going through multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization to no avail. Early in Season 3, having processed her grief and in a good place with Jack, Mel tells him she wants to have a baby. However, Jack is hesitant, and it’s easy to see why: He already has twins on the way with his ex-girlfriend (Lauren Hammersley) and feels unprepared, especially after his house burns down in the season premiere.
After further contemplation, Jack breaks things off with Mel because he doesn’t believe he can give her what she wants, and Mel decides to undergo another round of IVF on her own using one of the remaining embryos from her IVF attempts with her late husband . Both of these decisions are reasonable given where these characters are at this time. But because “Virgin River” is a heartwarming drama, Mel and Jack quickly reconcile. However, as Jack prepares to propose in the finale, Mel reveals she’s pregnant. Jack’s excitement is evident, but short-lived, because Mel soon tells him he might not be the father.
While it’s possible Mel’s late husband is the father of her unborn child, it seems more likely Jack is about to become a father of three. Not only is he the father of Mel’s child in the books upon which the series is based, but “Virgin River” is a romance that deals in satisfying comfort rather than overwhelming heartbreak. Even though there is plenty of drama to go around, Jack not being the father feels like a bridge too far for a show like “Virgin River” and Mel and Jack’s destined happily ever after. We’ll obviously have to wait until Season 4 to find out for sure, but we’d put money on these two lovebirds being just fine.
The other main throughline of “Virgin River” Season 3 is about who shot Jack at the end of Season 2. While many fans (and Jack) initially assumed his attacker was Calvin (David Cubitt), the drug dealer living outside of town, this is eventually proven incorrect. Jack eventually remembers that Brady (Ben Hollingsworth) stopped by the bar the night he was attacked, and the two fought. In the Season 3 finale, Brady is arrested by Mike (Marco Grazzini) in front of Brie (Zibby Allen), Jack’s sister and Brady’s romantic partner, after the gun that was used to shoot Jack was found in his truck. Despite the way things look right now, it seems rather unlikely Brady is Jack’s attack.
